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'95 Haro Shredder Standard, '97 Mongoose DMC, UPDATE, UPDATE 2

This is a page that I will use to try and explain what's on my bike and why it's there.

I think that I will start off with a picture of my first semi decent bike.

'95 Haro Shredder Standard

As you can see from the picture this bike doesn't look like your every day little kids BMX.  There are a few extra bits here that you wouldn't really expect to find on most little kids bikes.  To start off with the most obvious parts that stand out are the pegs.  These are the round cylinder things coming off the axels.  Pegs are used for all sorts of tricks,  i.e.. to stand on or to grind on.  The pegs that I run on my bike are large in diameter and have ruff knurling on them.  The reason for them being knurled is that they give you better grip for standing on them for flat land, and the reason for them being large in diameter means that they don't hurt your feet as much when you stand on them for long periods of time like when your riding flatland.  These pegs are also aluminium, this makes them lighter but not as strong as steel pegs.   Steel pegs are usually used for grinding because they grind faster than aluminium and don't wear down as fast (I still grind with my good old aluminium pegs though, even though they have almost worn through!).

Another feature that isn't on many little kids bikes is the device that is between the headset and the stem.  This is a cable detangling device, the one on this bike is a gyro but the one on my newer bike below is an oryg.  Cable detanglers do the job of making it possible to spin your bars around as much as you want with the ability to still give you braking.  Oryg cable detanglers are better in my opinion because the upper cables come in more than one length, this means that you can get short ones that don't get in the way.

Before I move on I will also mention that I have got a freewheel rear gear thingy not a back pedal brake.

'97 Mongoose DMC

Now I spose your wondering why I now have a Mongoose.  Well, I sort of snapped the frame of the Haro so I had to buy a new frame.  Frame and forks were the option because if you look at the top pic you will see that the forks are bent.  I snapped the shredder on the weld that joins the seat post to the seat stays.  The reason for that I think is because of the design of the bike.  To start off with the front of the bike is made of chromoly but the back is made of high tensile steel.  Joining two different types of metals together can create weaknesses.  Also there wasn't much to weld on the shredder because of the design.  The mongoose however has a standing platform allowing more area for the metal to get welded together.  Also the whole frame is made of chromoly so it's stronger.

UPDATE:
    The pic of my mongoose isn't quite how it looks now.  Now I have got FAT tires front and rear which helps heaps with balance, doesn't spin quite as well but that doesn't matter.  I also have a new seat and new seat tube.  I snapped my seat and also cracked the frame where the seat tube enters the frame.  It happened when I was riding up onto a high ledge.  I got the frame welded back up and now it's as good as new.  The seat which I got was a Hoffman seat, it's got padding on it which is a big bonus, the seat tube isn't laid back any more but is micro adjust.   I think that that's all of the major upgrades.

UPDATE 2:
    Now as it turns out I have snapped my '97 DMC frame on the down tube all the way through when riding ramp.  But thanx to the very nice ppl at mongoose they sent me a brand spanking new frame of the same model.  Not really much else has changed though, looks pretty similar, just a couple of different stickers.

I would like to say that now this isn't really the ideal bike, it's good for me and what I do, but there are many other good bikes out there that I would prefer to have, but as you know it, with things that are generally better, there is generally higher price tag.   And for what I currently do on it, this bike suits ME perfectly.